


The Issue With Safety

by Townycod13



Series: The Problem with Fantasy [3]
Category: South Park
Genre: F/F, M/M, Sorry it took so long, but primary focus is dem girls, prolly some k2 might sneak in here, the sequel i promised XD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 19:56:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14817869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Townycod13/pseuds/Townycod13
Summary: Karen doesn't regret her decisions. She does have to live with them.





	The Issue With Safety

**Author's Note:**

> Fic beta'd by Panaceaa! <3

\--

Kevin is dead.

His blood ran a river of cold reality down the small dirty lane they lived on.

The soldier didn’t pay her any mind.

Kevin had already passed on but his body stood with a strength and integrity she would never forget. Burned into the back of her eyelids is the figure of her older brother.

The boy that played dolls with her, even though the dolls were made of straw and string, the boy that protected her and fed her.

Her  _ brother _ .

He stood before her with a weapon of unknown origins impaling him and she could  _ tell _ , she could see he had long since passed on, but he reminded standing. Body lurching forward towards the creature that had taken him from her.

The soldier flinched back and Karen could hear what could have only been the voice of a ghost.

_ “Run.” _

It requested.

_ “Hide.” _

It demanded.

In his last moments, with his body already deceased, the monster that had taken her brother set him aflame.

Karen didn’t scream.

She didn’t cry.

Her body listened to her brothers voice, like so many days before, when she would unthinkingly refill a water bucket or thoughtlessly dig for the dream of growing food.

Her body obeyed that voice. Always. Without question. Because he had never asked her something that didn’t make sense.

Because he had never asked her something that shouldn’t be obeyed.

Her body trusted his voice and she could barely gasp enough air into her lungs to sustain the desperate stretching of her muscles. Could she run fast enough? He said to hide.

Her body listened so quickly her heart couldn’t scream.

It was the only time he dared to ask her something she couldn’t forgive.

It was the only time he asked her something she couldn’t argue with.

How could she? Kevin had already left. His blood a splash of color on her otherwise gaunt cheeks.

And in the streets, mixing with the river of those that she knew. Those that she loved.

At the southern border between the world of the humans and the kingdom of the elves, there was a small village called Park.

From her spot between a nook, under a tree, and beneath the foliage, she could see it burn.

She could see the trail of blood that wasn’t her own, the one that could easily lead any of the elven soldiers to her.

She could see her home disappear for the second time in her short life.

A clipped voice speaking elvish caught her attention.

So, perhaps this was it. Perhaps today would be the day. She’d barely escaped death so many times now.

Boots approached until the terrifying visage of her soon to be murderer entered her view. For now, just shoes. She couldn’t do anything but stare. This soldier had nothing but the finest boots for battle. Nothing but the absolute best to squelch a group of humans that were  _ lucky _ to have a thin fabric protecting their feet.

She would be murdered beneath that boot.

What did it matter? Kevin was dead. Her parents were dead. Kenny—

Her heart clenched.

Kenny.

In a castle far away.

Trying to protect them.

Always, always, always, someone protecting her. Someone dying for her.

How long before these fancy boots found his neck?

She sprung.

She wasn’t strong, she was small for her age, she was malnourished, small, and weak. Perhaps it was the surprise but the figure was knocked back from the force of it.

Lucky.

She couldn’t see her victim through the veil of tears that burned her eyes but she could feel his neck and she squeezed.

Die.

_ You killed Kevin _ .

Die.

_ You’ll kill Kenny _ .

Die.

_ How much more can you take from me? _

Di—

Her vision cleared and she saw his face. Her grip hadn’t loosened but apparently the strength of a child wasn’t quite enough.

He wasn’t struggling.

He was crying.

She sneered, squeezing with all her might and hoping against hope that she found a way to block his air-way.

“How  _ dare _ you cry.”

He would kill her. She was sure. She’d had her chance and her strength wasn’t enough.

This was the place she was to die.

“You’ve taken  _ everything _ .”

She couldn’t read the expression on the elf. She didn’t even know if he spoke the common tongue of humans.

“ _ Why _ ?”

Her heart broke at the same time her voice did and the grip she’d been holding onto loosened. Arms falling loosely to her sides.

What use was another murder? Did she want to become as bad as they were? Killing indiscriminately to defeat an unseen enemy?

That wouldn’t be the last move she made on this earth.

She had to try to be better.

Her heart clenched and the only words Kenny could leave her sprung to life.

“Don't try.” She echoed, no longer speaking to the soldier that had yet to end her life, “Do.”

Okay.

She clenched her tiny fists and punched the armor plate of the crying soldier. A painful attempt to gain his full and complete attention. She ignored the throb in her fist.

“You will not kill me.”

The soldier blinked in surprise and she knew then he could understand. “I won’t?” he croaked out, puzzled.

“And I won’t kill you.”

He nodded, dumbly, as if only barely comprehending her words.

“What’s your name?”

“Kevin.”

She wanted to cry all over again.

She held it in.

She wanted to scream and tell him he couldn’t  _ dare _ to share the name with the brother they’d taken from her.

She wanted to tell him he was a monster.

She held it in.

“I’m Karen.”

She stood, shakily, and offered a hand to the fallen soldier.

“Go back,” she commanded. “Forget you saw me.”

“We were told—“ he choked. “We shouldn’t leave survivors.”

She closed her eyes.

She took an evening breath. Center. She had to remember.

Kevin is dead.

Kenny is gone.

It’s just her.

Kevin would ruffle her hair and tell her to be what she wanted to see.

If they wanted a garden full of food, they would have to plow fields and work for water.

An impossible dream that would never be achieved.

But they worked everyday for it.

She wouldn’t disobey her brother now.

Not now.

“Were they good orders?” she asked finally.

Kevin, the elf, looked taken aback and shock closed his voice.

“Kevin.” She hated that he had that name more than anything, “You won’t kill me and I won’t kill you. Do you know why?”

“No.” He didn’t. He was lost. She realized it was probably the first he’d seen the dead. He was older in years but he had never come home to see his parents skewered and her brother missing. Not with those fancy boots.

He’d never seen a body and he’d never killed.

Until today.

She brought herself to her full unimpressive height, “When you can tell me, without hesitation or dishonesty, that you are following good orders. Then, and  _ only _ then, will I allow you to take my life.”

She turned.

She could feel his eyes on his back and knew in her heart it would take no effort for him to lift his spear and end her life. That all he would have to do was turn off his heart and follow his simple commands.

She gave him her defenseless back and walked, slowly and with intent. She would leave her life in his hands.

And challenge him to be  _ better. _

“I will not hide.”

She promised.

She promised to break the last command she’d received.

“I will not run.”

She swore.

An oath against the ones that wanted what was best for her.

She never felt the sting of his weapons. Only walked away from the sounds of destruction. Of death.

She walked until her legs gave out and the suppressed sobs cut the air.

\--

On her throne, Karen expected to see a lot of things. She expected rebellion, perhaps, or maybe opposition. She made an effort to anticipate the worst and strive for the best.

She never in her entire life expected the face of the elf entering her court.

She’d sent Kenny away, for his own good, to see to some political matters across the border. And just as she had sent her own diplomats of peace, so had the king of the elves.

A blond elf in the center appeared to be the leader of the group of three. He had the calm continence of a man that had prepared as she had. The grim preparation for the worst hidden beneath a smile.

He was flanked by two elves on either side. One one side was a woman who looked a touch too friendly for the world of politics and on the other side was  _ him _ .

She could never forget that face.

Not after years and years.

The face of the man that had shown her, in a strange way, the humanity in the enemy. The one who she shared a pact of mercy with.

From the gobsmacked expression on his face, he had apparently not expected the sight of her either. Had not forgotten her face, even as age had defined her features and food had allowed her a healthy weight.

He spoke first, surprising both of his companions with the break in etiquette. It had been clear the blond was supposed to introduce them. To explain their purpose.

“…Karen?”

The woman, in a subtle way that Karen did not miss, shot him a look. One did not talk to royalty like that. Not during peace talks like this in a public place.

It was stupid. Suicidal even.

Karen chose her words carefully.

Finally, she nodded at him in acknowledgement, “Kevin.”

If he looked startled before, he now looked as though all the world was crushing him under its weight. Ah, true, prior to the pact of mercy his spear was already bloody.

He’d killed one, or perhaps more, of the people she had grown up with. The people she had lost. The people she had loved.

It would be a lie if a part of her didn’t still itch to wrap her stronger hands around his throat and end the pact. She had the strength now. She could do whatever she liked with him.

She could.

But that wouldn’t do anything to save those that had fallen. It wouldn’t do anything to protect the future she wanted. It wouldn’t be plowing the fields for the hope of growth, it would be pouring salt on the crops.

She kept her voice and expression steady. The room awaited her verdict and explanation alone. Within this room, her power was absolute.

“Have you come here following good orders?”

His eyes widened and he nodded, a slow but meaningful gesture, “I have, your majesty.”

She considered this.

“No. You may call me Karen.”

She could feel the silent stirs in the onlookers.

“And I will call you Kevin.” She smiled and to her surprise it was almost sincere, “And neither of us will kill the other.”

Clearly this was lost on the onlookers but she could see unshed tears build in his eyes, “I’m grateful you are doing well.”

“As am I. Please, introduce me to your companions.”

She could barely breathe as she met Gary and Nichole. She allowed the trio to depart for the guest chambers and waited until she was alone before slumping on her throne.

In this room she held all the power.

In that forest she had none.

It was like being brought back to that moment in time. Staring at a tearful man that accepted her rage, her despair, and his horrible mission.

She wondered what it could have meant to him. Had he gone back to town and resumed the massacre? Did he disobey his commands in more ways than sparing her?

Did he regret sparing her now or was he grateful for the decision?

Fate had twisted its cords and shown her a face of her past.

When she was small. When she was weak. When she decided to take on the world with her own hands.

She stared at her palm. Years ago she’d tried to use it to take a life.

“Do you need anything, your highness?”

Karen blinked out of her revere, shocked she hadn’t even noticed the maid’s entrance. “I’m fine. Thank you. I’ll—“ she looked around the otherwise empty room and felt nauseous, “—retire to my chamber. Thank you.”

She barely saw the maid nod out of the corner of her eye and rushed away. She couldn’t let people catch her weak like that.

She needed to gather herself.

After returning to her chambers she let herself dissolve. Just for a moment. Just a precious moment of time where she could accept weakness.

Where she could see the image of a dead man on a spear behind her eyelids. Fighting until his last breath. Beyond it.

Telling her to leave him.

Where she could relive the hatred that still sometimes destroyed her at the memory.

\--

The Wizard King mourns the loss of the assassinated Princess McCormick.

After what felt like weeks of searching for information from the Keep, about the princess, about the only family she had left in the world, she wasn’t prepared for the answer the bard sang to the town square.

She recognized him. He had been in a face in Park that departed after the first massacre. He was aged but she had a good memory for faces. Still, she struggled for his name.

She stared, blankly, as the bard continued to spread the news from the Keep. A new war. A rise to arms. A lost innocent.

She listened until she couldn’t.

Who was he?

Did it matter?

He was singing about her brothers death. Spreading the news of the tragedy to  _ inspire _ people. To tell them to gather their plows away from the ground and to—

Her eyes widened and her fists clenched.

To do exactly the sort of foul-brained orders that had killed her brothers. Just on the other side.

She punched the singing man to the ground, surprised that her fist had the strength to do so.

Jimmy. That was his name. She remembered through the pain in her fist.

“Jimmy.” He looked at her with wide eyes that held no recognition, “Shut the fuck up.”

This stops here.

She made another addition to the list of promises inside her. The news of the princess’ death would go no farther.

She wouldn’t have people using Kenny’s memory as an excuse for murder.

With a deep inhale she glared down at the still startled man, “You’re going to help me.”

Create the future you want to see. The sky was an unforgiving master, one that offered no reprieve and no mercy, under it she was small. She was weak.

She would find strength.

\--

Sometimes it felt as though there were too many details to keep track of them all. And among those she trusted there were a scant few she could allow unfettered access to information.

With both Kenny and Jimmy away playing diplomats with the elves, that list grew even shorter. She didn’t regret her decision, it was a necessity, to quell unrest within the people.

She wasn’t sure Kenny would ever forgive her if he knew how hopeful she was that his personal endeavors would end well. Whether it was a public affair or not, it would be sure to ease tensions.

Jimmy’s mission was more important though. There was nothing quite like folk songs to inspire a nation. She was all too aware how easily the public was swayed when it came to information that was distant from their lives.

In a way she missed the simple task of trying to build a garden. It was difficult, it was laborious, but it was simple.

Politics weren’t simple.

Gary, the leader of the diplomats, looked at her differently after the affair in the courtroom. She assumed that Kevin had informed him about the past that had transpired.

He still had his subtle smile but there was something in the eyes that was searching. She hadn’t yet reasoned for what.

The papers he’d come to deliver and negotiate were simple and contained all that she had previously agreed on with the high king of the elves. Trade routes, laws, consequences, and a great deal of details to help ensure a lasting a bountiful peace between countries.

Still, she had to review the documents again and again, enlisting the help the few and trusted to ensure that not a letter was out of place.

Was the diplomat looking for weaknesses? A crack in her visage to show the broken farm girl beneath? Was he looking for the resentment for his people? Born of an old grudge fueled by loss?

She didn’t wish for Kenny to help. She did, in her heart, wish for just that because she knew he had a talent for deciphering people. In her mind she demanded control.

She couldn’t rely on him.

She, and no one else, was queen. She was the only one that could protect her people and the peace.

It was a bit much to keep up with.

With these documents and the ones that she fully expected from their other allies. The papers from the people, about the people, the ones that requested reprieve from heavy taxation or assistance with famine.

It was a lot.

She buried herself in it, feeling impossibly small in the large room. Knowledgeable that, despite her apparent royal lineage, what truly kept her in this position would be her ability to sort all of it. To understand clearly and concisely what must be done to the maximum satisfaction.

Her eyes furrowed at another word she hadn’t learned yet and she retrieved the worn dictionary from a shelf. She’d only learned to read through Jimmy’s totulage. She wished he was here for that as well. It was a weakness she was only comfortable divulging to a choice few.

The words spun in and out of focus after awhile. Another word was added to a long list on a parchment that she needed to learn. Understand without doubt.

Her eyes grew heavy and she tried in vain to keep them open.

She didn’t know when she’d closed them but she heard a plain familiar voice speaking slowly when she noticed they were shut.

She didn’t open them immediately, instead she tried to decipher where she had heard the feminine voice before.

“—huh, so this part pretty much means ‘if either countries citizens commit a crime in the other country, they will be punished to the full extent of the law’.” A thoughtful pause, “You’ve got a lot on your shoulder, huh?”

There was the sound of quill on paper before Karen heard the paper laid carefully beside her head.

She should open her eyes and insist on an identity. It was unheard of for someone to enter her chambers without permission and read out state affairs like this.

There was a gentle pat on her shoulder and she hadn’t the strength.

The weight of peace was too heavy but the brush of a hand was enough to decrease the load, just momentarily.

When she opened her eyes she thought she’d dreamed it. It felt like a dream.

Her parchment was full of definitions and translations in a handwriting she didn’t recognize.

She stared at the paper and carefully deliberated how to respond. She wasn’t suspicious by nature. She wanted to trust these notations were made out of good will by a kind ally.

Trust is a luxury in her position. Blind trust is unthinkable.

She would check and double check the notations, ascertain their accuracy, and listen carefully for the voice she heard.

Careful steps. Rough behavior could estrange an ally. Soft behavior could encourage a saboteur. She would have to find a medium between the two.

Careful but not hesitant. Firm but not cruel.

The part of her that longed for the simple faith in others felt the gentle touch on her shoulder.

It was a nice sensation.

\--

She wasn’t far from Park. Just an hours trek. She had decided to return after the soldiers retreated. Another hesitant treaty signed after a wave of battles. It wouldn’t last. It never did. For now, she would return and find whatever ditch they had burned the bodies in and find a way to properly bury the only brother she had left.

Jimmy agreed to wait for her at the inn. She half wondered if he would just wander off and continue barding.

That was part of the reason she left him.

She needed allies. Loyal ones. If he couldn’t wait a day for her to bury her dead, she was better off without him.

She hadn’t even made it into the town when she heard the sobs.

Broken. Empty. Soulless. A reflection of her own from over a month ago now.

She approached with caution. Grieving people weren’t the most rational, she knew from experience, and who knew what side was grieving. Maybe it was a survivor like her. Maybe it was a leftover elf soldier.

The stench was what alerted her to exactly what she was heading towards. She didn’t look at the stained ground, but the burnt smell of flesh was impossible to ignore.

There. In the still smoking pit was a sobbing figure under a cloak.

Her heart stilted. Someone like her then. Someone that escaped or returned to find the wreckage of their loved ones.

Her voice caught in her throat. What could she say? A strange feeling gnawed at her gut. She was alive. She was healthy. No one in this pit was.

They were dead.

They were murdered.

She was alive and they were dead.

It should be her. There was no rational reason she should make it out while so many burned.

There was only one reason she had and his corpse was among the wreckage.

She stumbled over her own feet, barely catching herself, but the sound alerted the cloaked figure. Sobs frozen in a deadly silence.

She recognized it for what it was. The moment before she’d charged the soldier. The moment where she’d thrown away her beliefs in the name of revenge and hatred.

If the figure had a long distance weapon she might not even manage to identify herself before she joined the pit.

The figure stood. Still in a way that meant she should speak. She knew she should. She needed to. Kevin had died to protect her, dying in a misunderstanding would be a meaningless misuse of his sacrifice.

That same gnawing feeling wondered if it would be better that way. A quick death where she could join the others. It didn’t make sense that she lived while so many died.

He turned, slowly, and familiar but cold eyes locked on hers.

She didn’t dare breathe at the sight. Neither did he.

In just a moment the world changed completely.

Her heart rose to her throat and the words beneath the surface bubbled out in one word that tore her in half with pure emotion.

“ _ Kenny _ !”

\--

_ The elf she owed her life to. _

She didn’t like to think of it like that. Phrase it like that.

Her ears were trained towards the rumor mill though, an impossible habit to break, and word across the castle was that Kevin Stolely of the elves had saved the now queen’s life.

She didn’t like it.

Clyde was a great source for rumors. He never seemed to quite know how to keep his mouth shut. She had some trust in him as well, as she would anyone her brother vouched for, but still tried to take his word with a grain of salt.

“So, is it true?”

It was still strange to be confronted so bluntly.

There was a delicate balance she should be maintaining. She shouldn’t be taken for a gossip partner, there’s a distance one has to consider in a position like hers, but her heart stuttered at the thought of dissuading someone that could otherwise be an ally.

The sword that dropped on her brother when she first sat on the throne still hung there. In her mind’s eye she always saw it.

It was the warning her brother had provided.

A monarch only has the power the people allow them to have. Every ally, every individual, they were invaluable as companions and could be lethal as enemies.

She understood, fully, why Kenny never wanted this for her.

She stood by her decision.

Giving Clyde a blank smile, she responded evenly. “In a way.”

He looked let down over not getting a straight answer and her heart ached to do just that. Sharing the tale could help the warped emotions that had built inside her. Could help her understand why she still longed to claw out his throat. Why she felt an odd companionship.

The elf that spared her and who she had spared.

The elf who had killed people she loved.

As if summoned by her thoughts and Clyde’s gossip, he turned a corner, happily in conversation with Nichole.

He stopped when he saw her. She smiled, a tight and small expression.

She had to try--

As though the word were a spell, she drew to her full height.

_ Trying _ was meaningless in her position.

“Kevin,” she schooled her tone for neutrality, “come with me.”

Nichole shot her companion a worried look. Clyde looked a little at a loss.

“Alone.” she added, a small smile to Clyde, to assure him, “He will not harm me.” She turned to Nichole, “And, of course, I wouldn’t harm him. Come.”

She swept around without waiting for a reply. That same walk but with none of the weapons and danger behind her from that day.

Still, her body tensed in anticipation of the cold metal that wasn’t coming. The sharp memory of the last time she’d offered Kevin her back still fresh in her mind.

She hadn’t walked far before she was confident it was only his footsteps following just behind her. She turned another corner and gestured for him to follow her into an empty meeting room.

When she turned his expression didn’t look scared but it didn’t look calm. She couldn’t put her finger on it.

“I have a question for you.”

He nodded, weakly, “Ask me anything.”

In that moment she knew she could. She could use this opportunity to read into Gary’s motives. She could inquire about any political information and he would not lie. He could not lie to her.

This wasn’t about politics though. She set aside her position as a queen, only for a moment.

Right now she was just Karen.

“Why?”

\--Had he spared her when clearly he’d been intent on following his orders. Had already done so.

\--Had he come on this mission to create a meaningful balance between countries when his hands were stained with blood.

\--Had he told the tale to anyone when it had always been locked in her heart as a traumatic hell.

She left the question for him to finish.

He looked away.

“You were… small. A child. Covered in blood. I--I raised my weapon and I realized you weren’t wounded. None of it was your own.”

His voice was a memory. She looked away as well. To listen with her ears.

To come to terms with the pain that haunted her.

“None of the blood on me was my own either,” he confessed, a choked sound.

“Who?” She hated herself for asking. She didn’t want to know. Knowing would make it worse.

His voice was a broken guilt, “I didn’t see her face.”

She clenched her fist.

“Victoria. Red. Sally. Annie. Ashley. Beth. Lizzy. Lola.”

She could feel his horrified eyes on her but she continued.

“Theresa. Mandy. Allie. Chantel. Frida.”

She stopped. A stabling breath.

“Have you ever returned to Park?”

Out of the corner of her eye she could see him shake his head, just slightly.

“My brother and I took the burnt bodies from the pit you left them in. We buried them. We identified them. I knew them. All of them. We were a small village.”

Small with salted crops and a mound of corpses.

“We rebuilt.” She steadied her voice, “We rebuilt and I lived there.”

“I’m sorry.” He sounded shaken.

She shook her head.

“It wasn’t your fault and in that same way it was completely your fault.” She faltered, this was personal and frank, but continued, “Everyone that listened to an order like that blindly was at fault. Those that would give such commands were at fault.”

She finally looked at him again, “I can’t help hating you. But I will never act on that hatred.”

“Why?”

In a way, he deserved an answer. She kept her gaze even.

“Because if I kill blindly for my own self-service, we can never rebuild. I don’t think I can ever forgive you, I can tell you each name and you never even looked for a face, you were blind and stupid. However, if your eyes remain open, there is no purpose in bloodshed.”

He nodded solemnly, understanding the threat in the words, and not holding it against her.

“Besides,” she laughed humorlessly, “The reason I hate you the most is too petty for words.”

He blinked, at a loss.

Working past her fears to the honest truth was difficult. She would do it.

“Your name is Kevin.”

He still had no answer. He wouldn’t, couldn’t, know why his name was so offensive.

“Among the bodies I buried was my elder brother, Kevin McCormick. He died shielding me. He died telling me to run and hide.” Her voice cracked and she halted her voice.

He was smart enough not to respond or attempt to apologize.

It wouldn’t be enough.

She sighed, a bitter bristle still stabbing her heart, “That’s all. I think. I... honestly can’t gather all my feelings about this. I wanted to talk to you for selfish reasons--”

“Thank you.”

She wasn’t sure which was more surprising. Being cut off or the words spoken.

“For what?”

“That day--you changed my life. I don’t know how to fully express it… you changed me. For the better. I--I don’t think I’d be here alive today without meeting you.”

She couldn’t help her scoff, “Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

He shook his head.

“No. It really isn’t,” he bowed, deep and low, and in her heart it felt like it had nothing to do with her status. “With your permission, I would like to take my companions through Park when we depart here.”

Her jaw clenched. No. She felt it scream inside her.  _ No _ . You don’t  _ deserve _ to see what has grown from your destruction. You don’t  _ deserve _ \--

She nodded, becoming the queen she had to be again.

“You have my permission,” she turned away, giving Kevin her back for the third and final time, “Do not let me detain you.”

When the door clicked shut behind him she finally allowed her legs to give out.

She had to face her fears. To quell the unrest inside her. To build bridges with people that she irrationally despised.

The real  _ why _ in her heart tumbled from her lips.

“Why are you alive when he isn’t?”

\--

“Stay in Park. I can’t stay. I’ll… you’ll only be in danger with me here. Don’t worry. I’ll send money. I’ll take care of you. Don’t worry. I’ll protect you. You’ll be safe.”

Karen stared into the desperate face of her only remaining brother.

For the first time in her life she lied to family.

“Okay.”

Kevin saw the barren field around Park and saw the potential for growth. For food. For a future.

Kenny saw a world that couldn’t be defeated, only hidden from.

In her heart, she saw both, in her mind’s eye she knew what she had to do.

The answer was the same to both problems.

Change the game. Break the rules. Defeat the odds. Never give up.

“I’ll try to be safe.”

“Don’t try, Karen. Do.”

Here, she could finally be honest.

“I promise.”

 


End file.
